Flavio Bolsonaro inherited his father’s surname and powerful political base. But without the fiery style that helped Jair Bolsonaro energise and reshape Brazil’s right, he has struggled to emerge from his shadow.
“I know I look like him. “I would like to have Jair on the ballot. Born in Rio de Janeiro state, Flavio Bolsonaro is the eldest of the former president’s four sons, and the one who most closely resembles his father. On the campaign trail, he displayed the relaxed Carioca style and language that the city of Rio is known for. In online videos, he does not shy away from tearing up or losing his cool when talking about the plight of his father or what he sees as persecution from the judiciary against his family. Father to two daughters, he cultivates the image of a devout family man. A key campaign slogan of his is “come with faith. In one video showing a busy family morning at home, his dentist wife Fernanda takes credit for him being more mild-mannered than his father, joking: “I re-educated him. The film was bankrolled by banker Daniel Vorcaro, who has been jailed in a multimillion-dollar fraud case. The Vorcaro case has ensnared many powerful people in Brazil and has dominated the election. Flavio Bolsonaro had initially denied any contact with Vorcaro or having flown in his private jet. He was forced to admit both after leaks from the investigation showed them to be true. He also became embroiled in a family feud with his stepmother, the former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro, who posted an Instagram video saying Flavio Bolsonaro had “disrespected me and mistreated me. Michelle Bolsonaro accepted a public apology from Flavio Bolsonaro, but did not appear at any of his rallies. He has also faced scrutiny over his ties to Rio de Janeiro’s militia figures. On social media, he embraces slick AI-generated campaign ads in which he often appears in a flight suit and aviator glasses piloting a fighter jet on a mission for Brazil. In one, he leans out of the window shooting at drug traffickers on a boat.
The family brand was potent enough to propel Flavio Bolsonaro to the front of a presidential race, edging past leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who he will face in an October 25 runoff. The 45-year-old senator was little known nationally before his jailed father anointed him as his political heir, and he had never expressed ambition to follow in his footsteps. Despite a campaign marred by scandal and a corruption investigation, Flavio Bolsonaro scored 47 per cent in Sunday’s election against Lula’s 45 per cent. While Jair Bolsonaro’s incendiary style is controversial, it fired up the right and helped him go from fringe lawmaker to president in 2018. Despite his absence under house arrest for plotting a coup after losing Brazil’s last election in 2022, Jair Bolsonaro’s legacy has loomed large over the campaign. Since Jair isn’t there, I’m going with Flavio,” said Marco Antonio da Rosa, a 21-year-old law student at the Rio rally. Holding a law degree, the younger Bolsonaro became a state lawmaker in Rio de Janeiro at age 21 and a senator at age 37.
In interviews, he describes himself as a “more moderate Bolsonaro,” but says his father will always be “my compass, my point of reference. But it’s hard to compare Pele’s son to Pele,” he said at a Rio de Janeiro rally. He often wears jeans and a T-shirt with a targeted slogan: “The Amazon is ours” to emphasize Brazilian sovereignty over the rainforest, or “Agribusiness is great” when courting farmers. In September it emerged that Flavio Bolsonaro was under investigation for alleged corruption and money laundering linked to the financing of a biopic, “Dark Horse,” about his father. A hardliner on crime, Flavio Bolsonaro has praised the controversial security policies of El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele and called for the building of “many, many prisons” in Brazil. “Compared to his father, he is more affable and personable…but that doesn’t mean he isn’t ideologically far-right,” said political analyst Thomas Traumann. (This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In an earlier scandal when he was a Rio legislator, Flavio Bolsonaro was accused of involvement in a kickback scheme in which he took a portion of his aides’ salaries, but the case was dismissed.
